


Hogwartvengers: Year One

by orphan_account



Series: Hogwartvengers 'Verse [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hogwartvengers, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts AU, Hogwartvengers - Freeform, Science Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-02
Updated: 2012-09-30
Packaged: 2017-11-11 07:05:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/475878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the Hogwartvengers tag on Tumblr. The fairly uneventful first year of the Avengers as Hogwarts students. Uneventful by their standards, at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark is boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time, and befriends a shy, quiet boy by the name of Bruce Banner on the way. Hogwarts won't know what hit it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can also be listened to in podfic form here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iW0UriSvZ08

Tony Stark said he wasn't nervous the first time he boarded the Hogwarts Express. He was lying.

His parents had, for once, come to see him off in person. Tony was still surprised his father had been there, but then he thought on the many cameras around, and wondered how many front pages they would grace the next day, especially if his sorting leaked. It was good publicity.

Still, the eleven year-old genius stood with a straight back and no tears in his eyes as he let his mother hug him, dabbing at her own cheeks with a handkerchief. "Remember, Anthony; no matter what house you're sorted into, we'll both love you just the same as we do now," she assured him, kissing his forehead. Tony stifled a small smile; he knew that wasn't true. If he were in Hufflepuff, his dad would probably disown him, and Gryffindor didn't bear thinking about. The only acceptable houses in his father's eyes were Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

"I need to go, Mom, the train's about to leave," he urged, tugging himself out of her embrace. His father clapped him on the shoulder with one hand, gently cuffing him around the head with the other as he crouched to Tony's eye-level.

"Do us proud, kiddo. And remember what we talked about," Howard Stark instructed, a smile on his face. Tony nodded sharply; no causing trouble, no disgracing the family name, no sub-standard grades. He could only promise the last one, and they both knew it.

"I'll see you at Christmas," Tony replied, consenting to a stiff hug with the greying man. The Hogwarts Express began to spew smoke from the chimney, and Tony grabbed the handle of his trunk, dragging it towards the nearest open door. Hoisting it onto the train by himself, he glanced back at his parents for the barest moment before shutting the door behind him, wandering down the train. Most of the compartments seemed to house older kids, though Tony grinned to himself when he saw one with a single boy inside, looking about his age. He had messy dark hair, and had his nose buried in a book about magical theory. Tony's kind of guy. Nudging the compartment door open, Tony offered an easy grin to the other boy. "Hey, mind if I join you?" he asked, not waiting for an answer before heaving his trunk onto the luggage rack.

"I, uh, actually prefer being alone," the boy replied softly, his voice still polite even though he was clearly telling Tony to leave. Tony didn't let that deter him, grinning wider.

"That's only because you've never had the pleasure of my company before," he assured, dropping into the seat opposite the boy. The purple sweater he was wearing was somewhat threadbare, and there was a small hole in the knee of his jeans; a definite contrast to Tony's designer jeans and tight-fitting t-shirt with an expensive leather jacket over the top. "Tony Stark," he introduced, holding out a hand. The boy blinked, surprised.

"You developed the Stark Theorem of Magical Engineering," he declared, making Tony practically beam. Such a refreshing response from the usual 'you're Howard Stark's kid'.

"Yes, yes I did. You know my theorem, you're my new best friend, okay?" Tony told the scruffy boy. Very few people knew the Stark Theorem, and even fewer knew that it was actually Tony's and not Howard's. Tony had been seven, and purposefully ignorant of the 'limits of magic'. His theorem had allowed Stark Industries to progress in their search to combine magic and technology, though since Howard had developed the actual spell series, he'd gotten all the credit.

"I… I think I'd like that. Bruce Banner," the scruffy boy finally said, shaking Tony's hand. Tony smiled at Bruce, who smiled back tentatively.

"So, I'm assuming you're aiming for Ravenclaw?" he queried, and Bruce nodded.

"That's the plan," he confirmed with a somewhat shaky smile, as if he were concerned about how likely his plan would be to work. "How about you?"

"Ravenclaw is most likely, but Slytherin wouldn't surprise me. So long as I'm not a Hufflepuff," he added with an exaggerated shudder, making Bruce shoot him a look.

"Hey, Hufflepuffs aren't all bad. My dad was a Hufflepuff," he defended. Tony shrugged, rifling through his satchel until he found what he was looking for.

"Whatever, man. Blueberry?" He held out the bag of dried fruit out to Bruce, who hesitated before taking one, making Tony smile. That was definitely going to be the start of a beautiful friendship, Tony was sure of it.

.-.-.

He and Bruce were left fairly well alone during their trip, though Tony went a little overboard when the trolley came by selling sweets and snacks. He insisted on buying enough for Bruce too, despite the other boy's protests, and they spent the companionable ride discussing magical theory and quidditch, once Tony found out Bruce was a fellow Tornadoes fan. The conversation only halted when they drew closer to Hogwarts, and Bruce insisted on going to change in the bathrooms. Tony, never one to be body shy, had started stripping off in the middle of the compartment, and promised he wouldn't peek, but Bruce still left. Tony merely figured he was self-conscious.

Both boys were practically bouncing with excitement when the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, and Tony stopped Bruce with a hand on his shoulder before they left the compartment. "Hey, promise me; no matter where we're sorted, we're still friends. Even if you're a Hufflepuff," he added with a teasing grin, holding out an expectant fist. Somewhat bemused, Bruce obligingly fist-bumped him, nodding.

"Friends no matter what," he agreed, and with that settled, they both joined the flood of students leaving the train. First years were easy to find, being the only students without house colours on their robes, and Tony and Bruce made their way over to the gathering of their yearmates near the huge man that Tony knew to be Dugan, the gamekeeper.

"First years, follow me!" the man called, lantern swinging over their heads as he counted them. When they were all there, the group followed Dugan towards the edge of the lake, and Tony resisted the urge to grab Bruce's hand, his stomach squirming nervously. His new friend had gone chalk-white, and Tony could see several other anxious-looking faces around him. At least he wasn't the only one. Tony grimaced when he saw a fleet of small boats waiting for them at the water's edge; he hated sailing. He had done ever since he'd fallen out of the family yacht aged nine, and no one had noticed for a whole twenty minutes. "Alright, hurry up! Four to a boat, quick now!" Dugan urged, and Tony immediately looked towards Bruce, both with the same expression on their faces; _we're sharing a boat_

They ended up in a boat with a friendly-looking dark-haired girl and a boy who introduced himself as Phil Coulson almost as soon as they stepped into the boat, shaking both their hands furiously. Tony immediately didn't like him. The girl merely gave her name as Jane, staying fairly quiet through the ride, too busy looking at the scenery. "We should be coming up to see the castle soon," Coulson told them. "Hogwarts: A History says that the first years are kept separate from the rest of the school before the sorting ceremony, but doesn't explain what the ceremony is. No one I've asked does either; I wonder what kind of test it is. It has to be pretty thorough to accurately gage personality enough to sort people into the four houses."

"Hey, Coulson?" Tony said cheerily, drawing the other boy's attention.

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Even Jane giggled at his words, and Bruce snorted despite his reproving look. Coulson looked as though the wind had been blown from his sails, but obediently quieted. Maybe he wasn't so bad. Tony's breath caught in his throat as he got his first glimpse of Hogwarts castle. He'd seen it in photos, but that didn't compare to the beauty of the building in person, and a glance to his side showed Bruce in an equal state of amazement.

They all bundled together once more when they got out of the boats, and Dugan led them up to the huge oak front doors. One of them was open, and Tony recognised Professor Selvig stood waiting for them; the man had worked with his father in the past, and Tony had met him a couple of times. "I'll take them from here, Dugan," he declared, the slight hint of a Nordic accent to his words. Dugan nodded, slipping past the deputy headmaster and into the castle, and Selvig surveyed them flatly. "Follow me," he said curtly, turning on his heel and leading them inside. Tony tried not to gawp at the inside of the castle as he entered, concentrating on following the professor and keeping by Bruce's side. They were led into a small side-chamber, and he could vaguely hear the chatter from what must be the Great Hall. "Line up and make yourselves presentable," Selvig instructed, arms folded over his chest. There was a flurry of activity as they all shuffled into line, Tony stood between Bruce and Coulson, who was checking his hair in a pocket mirror. Who the hell carried around a pocket mirror?

Selvig adjusted the cloak of a tall boy with long blonde hair with a disapproving frown, but seemed satisfied with the rest of them, then carried on back to the front of the line. "This way, students," he called, leading them towards the now-open door to the main hall. Tony took a deep breath, offering Bruce a shaky grin.

"Ravenclaw, here we come," he muttered under his breath, sounding more confident than he felt. Walking in line, he drew on every ounce of confidence he'd gained from growing up under public scrutiny, giving his best careless grin and strutting walk as he followed the other first years onto the raised area of the hall in front of the teachers' table. There was a ragged old hat perched on a three-legged stool, and Tony was confused. What the hell was that about?

It all became clear once they were stood in line, and a rip in the brim of the hat opened. Then it started singing. Tony worried that he'd inhaled a few too many chemical fumes the night before, but a glance either side confirmed that he was definitely not the only one hearing the hat sing. Well, magic had done weirder things. When the hat finally shut up, Selvig pulled a scroll of parchment from his sleeve, unrolling it. "When I call your name, sit on the stool and try on the hat," he announced, eyes fixed on their little gathering. Tony had counted, and there were twenty-six first years including himself. "Adams, Michael." A nervous-looking fair-haired boy edged towards the stool, tentatively placing the hat on his head. There was a long moment of silence, and then Tony jumped as the hat barked out 'HUFFLEPUFF!' for the whole hall to hear. The yellow-clad table of students burst into applause, and Michael Adams grinned, placing the hat back on the stool and going to join his new housemates, his robes and tie turning yellow and black as he walked, the Hufflepuff crest appearing on his chest. "Banner, Bruce!" Tony gulped, giving the other boy's hand a quick squeeze hidden behind the folds of their robes before letting him walk forward.

"Please be Ravenclaw," he muttered to himself, barely audible. His face split into a wide grin as the hat shouted 'RAVENCLAW!' almost as soon as it touched Bruce's head, and as blue and bronze appeared on his robes and tie, Tony could see the other boy's relieved smile upon joining the Ravenclaw table. Now all he had to do was get in the same house as his new friend.

Tony wasn't surprised when Coulson made Hufflepuff. At all. He didn't pay much attention to everyone else, too busy wondering what it was about the hat that made it able to judge personality, but he did concentrate enough to find out that Jane's last name was Foster, and she was joining Bruce in Ravenclaw. Yeah, Tony liked her already. The tall blonde boy turned out to be called Thor Odinson, and he let out a loud cheer when he was sorted into Gryffindor. Again, Tony wasn't surprised. Finally, however, Selvig called out "Stark, Anthony," and Tony stepped forward, trying not to visibly wince at the round of whispers his name threw up around the hall. Of course everyone would know who he was; he'd been on the cover of Witch Weekly barely six months ago. He was quite possibly the most famous eleven year-old in the wizarding world.

Sitting on the rickety stool, he set the hat on his head, jolting when he heard a voice. ' _Hmm, another Stark, eh?_ ' the hat murmured, sounding intrigued. ' _Very busy mind you've got going on here, lad. And I can tell you now, trying to steal Headmaster Fury's glass eye won't work. It's warded beyond even your skills._ ' Tony resisted the urge to curse; there went his plans. He'd have to re-think a few things, and figure out what wards there were on that eye. ' _You're rather like your father, yes, but… smarter, no doubt. Less driven, too, and that's definitely not a bad thing. Only one place for you, boy._ ' Tony crossed his fingers in his pockets, and couldn't stop the grin on his lips when he heard the hat shout 'RAVENCLAW!' to the hall. His eyes immediately met Bruce's, and he beamed when he saw the other boy applauding wildly. Setting the hat back on the stool, Tony watched his uniform change colour as he joined the cheering Ravenclaw table, several of them exclaiming how they'd surely win the house cup now with him joining them. Tony snorted to himself; they obviously didn't know of his reputation.

He slid onto the bench beside Bruce, clapping the other boy on the back. "Looks like we both ended up where we wanted," he pointed out, smiling widely. Bruce grinned back, nodding.

"I… I'm still in shock," he admitted, making Tony laugh.

"Give it a little while, we'll get some food in you. That'll make everything better," he remarked, twisting around to watch the rest of the sorting. There weren't many people after him, and Selvig took the hat and stool away when everyone had been sorted. By Tony's count, eight Gryffindors, five Slytherins, six Hufflepuffs and seven Ravenclaws. Not a bad mix, in all. The sheer number of Gryffindors was a little disappointing, but he couldn't complain. The hall went silent as Headmaster Fury stood, staring them all down through his one eye, his magical eye rolled far back into his head. That was cool and creepy at the same time.

"Twenty-six new brats to add to the tally," he declared, sounding unimpressed. "If any of you damage my school, you'll be in detention until your grandchildren arrive here. Now eat, and get to bed early. It's a long day tomorrow." With that, he sat down, and Tony barely had time to blink before the tables were covered in food.

"Is that it?" he asked Bruce, who shrugged.

"Short and sweet, and got the point across. I can't say I'm complaining; I'm starved," he admitted, already reaching for a large dish of vegetables, spooning a small mound onto his plate. Tony balked at the sheer amount of green and healthy on one plate, immediately filling his own with as many different kind of meat as he could reach. Bruce sighed, rolling his eyes, then spooned some green beans onto Tony's plate. "Eat your vegetables," he instructed, making Tony snort.

"What are you, my mother?" he asked wryly, though he let the green beans stay, and even added some carrots to the plate as well. He actually ate them, too, under Bruce's watchful eye. He was very glad at his new friend's foresight to sit at the end of the Ravenclaw table; it meant there were less people within reach to ask him about what it was like being Howard Stark's son. He hated that question.

Bruce had a hard time keeping Tony from inhaling twice his body weight in sugar when the desserts came, though the young genius did a valiant job of hogging most of the ice cream and chocolate cake. Bruce himself had a small slice of apple pie, and Tony graciously donated some of his ice cream hoard to his friend. "How can you even eat that much?" Bruce asked, shaking his head in exasperation. "By all rights you should weigh a ton!"

"Thinking burns calories," Tony pointed out. "And if there's one thing I'm good at, it's thinking. Hell, I can't wait to see what the potions lab set-up is like round here. I was halfway through a project before I came here and I really want to finish it." Bruce eyed him for a long moment, then sighed, a reluctant smile tugging at his lips.

"Need a brewing partner?" he asked, somewhat resigned. Tony grinned, spooning yet more ice cream and pie onto his friend's plate. Bruce could do with the calories; he was scrawny as hell.

"I like you. You can stay," he declared firmly, making Bruce chuckle.

"I'm so glad I have your approval." Not protesting at the extra dessert, Bruce started on the second helping Tony had given him, and the young Stark heir smiled to himself, making progress through his small mountain of ice cream. Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. Furry Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, being Tony Stark, doesn’t take long to find out Bruce’s furry little secret. Bruce is surprised at how well things go.

It took two months before Tony noticed a pattern, and another week and a half of research before he came to a firm conclusion. It was the only explanation; Bruce refused to change in front of him, occasionally flinched for seemingly no reason when Tony touched him, was suspiciously absent during the days of and around the full moon and looked like crap when he returned, and seemed to think that he didn’t deserve to be around people. It was the little things, like how he seemed surprised when Tony dragged him into a brewing session or studying binge, or when Jane asked to pair with him in Astronomy — Tony spent most of the class sleeping when he actually turned up, and thus wasn’t offended — and it all added up to show that Bruce was hiding something, and Tony was certain it was something big and furry. 

He kept his suspicions from his friend, acting exactly as he always had, though keeping a careful eye on all the oddities that stuck out. Tony was somewhat surprised; the other boy seemed to have more issues than even he did. When the next full moon came around, Tony said goodbye to Bruce as he always did at around 5 in the afternoon — Bruce having the excuse of ‘my mother is sick, I need to go visit her’ — but cast a quick disillusionment charm and followed stealthily. The other Ravenclaw’s shoulders were shaking as he walked towards the hospital wing, and Tony lurked invisible by the doorway as Bruce talked to Healer McCoy, who placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and passed him a disgusting-looking potion that Tony recognised as Wolfsbane. His theory was adding up. Bruce handed over his wand, watch and robe, which were all placed in a secure lock box, and Tony almost tripped over himself in an effort to get out of the way when the pair headed for the doors. Keeping a good distance back, Tony trailed them vigilantly, grinning to himself. Sneaking around his dad’s labs in his younger years had finally proved worthwhile. 

Bruce didn’t talk as they walked through the empty corridors, though his shakes got more violent as they got closer to the castle doors. Tony felt a sharp pang in his chest; he wished he could give his friend a hug. He’d done research on the werewolf transformation; it was meant to be horrifically painful, and he hated the thought of quiet, meek little Bruce having to go through that every month. Stark Industries had helped develop the wolfsbane potion a lot over the past decade, but it still wasn’t enough. All that did was make the wolf docile enough not to hunt down people; that didn’t stop it from harming itself when in distress, or numb the pain of transforming. Tony winced as his footsteps rustled some wet leaves as they started outside, though the pair walking ahead of him didn’t seem to notice. 

Tony frowned when they started towards the whomping willow near the lake; Bruce ordinarily refused to go anywhere near the dangerous tree, and had given Tony a twenty-five minute long lecture when he’d tried to see how close he could get to touching the trunk. The reasoning became clear as, with a flick of his wand, Healer McCoy levitated a short stick towards the trunk of the tree. He pressed it against a bulging knot in the roots, and Tony’s jaw dropped when the tree froze. “I’ll be back to get you after sunrise,” McCoy told Bruce, who nodded, then hurried forward and seemed to disappear beneath the tree just before it began to move again. McCoy sighed, then turned back to the castle. Tony didn’t follow, heart hammering anxiously in his chest as he stared at the sky. The sun was well on its way down, and Tony couldn’t draw himself away. Sitting cross-legged and still invisible on the wet grass, out of the tree’s reach, Tony waited. And waited. And waited.

Eventually, the moon began to peek over the horizon, and Tony flinched when he heard an inhuman scream coming from far off; obviously wherever the passage led to, where Bruce was. He drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and squeezing his eyes shut as Bruce continued to scream and groan, his pain obvious. After several long minutes, the screams turned to howls, and eventually quieted. The transformation was over.

Tony didn’t feel any triumph in having his theory confirmed. All he felt was a hollow, slightly nauseous feeling in his stomach as he listened to his best friend’s cries of pain. He couldn’t believe that even with the wolfsbane, Bruce still hurt that much. And no wonder he’d kept so quiet about things; werewolves were still regarded as dangerous monsters every day of the year, regardless of the fact that they only changed at the full moon. Tony was surprised Fury had allowed him to attend, but figured Bruce was obviously worth the risk; with a mind like his, he could go very far. And at least having him at Hogwarts allowed Fury to keep an eye on him. 

Tony stayed until sunrise, when Healer McCoy arrived to take Bruce back up to the hospital wing. Tony’s breath caught in his throat at the state of his friend; Bruce was wrapped in a blanket, and his face and arms were covered in cuts and bruises. He was either asleep or unconscious, and Tony was betting on the latter. When the coast was clear, Tony got to his feet and winced at the pins and needles in his legs, heading back towards the doors. He’d not slept a wink, and yet he was still wide-awake, the sounds of Bruce’s screaming echoing in his mind. Even when he was back in his bed in the Ravenclaw dorm, Tony didn’t sleep, staring at the ceiling as he mentally ran over every possible improvement he could make to the Wolfsbane potion. The research had been dropped a while back in favour of other things, but Tony could continue it himself. It would be hard work, but… it was worth it, for Bruce.

.-.-.

Bruce was back in the dorm and back to lessons two days after the moon, seemingly none the worse for wear. Still, Tony couldn’t get the screams out of his head. In the free time he had between classes, homework and general mischief-making, Tony devoted every spare second to researching werewolves. They were incredible creatures, really; genetically designed to be the top of the food chain, the ultimate predator, with a far easier method of keeping up population than natural reproduction. If only Bruce could learn to control the wolf, it would be amazing. 

Tony finally let it slip the week before the next full moon, when he and Bruce were brewing in one of the unused potions classrooms. Professor Pym allowed them to use the labs in off-time so long as they were careful about it; no one stopped Tony Stark from doing extra work. They were working on a variant of the Draught of Living Death, more to kill time than for any real scientific purposes, when Tony couldn’t keep it in any longer. “Y’know, I’m a huge fan of the way you turn into a giant furry wolfman,” he said casually as he passed Bruce a stirring rod. Bruce’s hand went slack, and the rod shattered on the floor. 

“Excuse me?” he asked, deathly pale. Tony offered him a tentative smile.

“You really thought I wouldn’t figure it out? Honeybear, I’m Tony Stark. It’s pretty cool, though, in theory. I get the feeling the practical application is less than enjoyable.” Bruce let out a long, shuddering breath, then met Tony’s eyes. The young billionaire tried to convey his acceptance, and evidently he succeeded, for Bruce gave him a shaky grimace-grin in return. 

“Yeah, that part’s not so fun,” he agreed wryly. “And, uh, for the record, I’m not giant. I’m still kind of a cub by wolf standards; Healer McCoy says I’ll grow in both forms when I hit puberty.” Tony suddenly had the mental image of an adorable little wolf cub Bruce running about, and wished it were the case.

“Wolf-puppy then,” Tony corrected with a slight grin. Bruce bit his lip, looking anxious.

“You aren’t going to… tell anybody, are you?” he asked in a whisper, fear in his voice. Tony shook his head, expression serious. 

“Of course not; you’re my best friend, Bruce. Keeping secrets is kinda in the job description,” he assured. “And I, uh, asked my dad to send me all the notes on Stark Industries’ wolfsbane development. He won’t pick it up in the labs again, but I’m pretty sure I should be able to figure something out on my own,” he added confidently. Potions was kind of his thing. Bruce gaped, looking stunned, before he threw his arms around Tony, knocking him back several steps. 

“Thank you,” he breathed into Tony’s neck, making the slightly older boy grin, hugging back.

“I just want to make things better for you,” Tony mumbled abashedly, but Bruce shook his head.

“You don’t understand,” he insisted. “You never could, but… thank you. Not just from me; a breakthrough could mean great things for werewolves all over the place. I… I gave up hope when Stark Industries announced they were benching the project.” Tony suddenly hated his father for causing the despair in Bruce’s voice; the project had been sidelined because there was more money in other ventures. Werewolves didn’t have enough money to fund such a huge project, and Howard hadn’t wanted it to come from his own pocket.

“Don’t thank me yet; wait until I have that breakthrough,” he pointed out, making Bruce laugh as he pulled back.

“Tony, you’re the smartest eleven year-old in the wizarding world. If anyone can do this, it’s you,” he declared firmly. Tony smiled, then his eyes widened as their potion began to bubble ominously. 

“Whoa, back up!” he exclaimed, casting a hasty shield over the cauldron and pushed Bruce away from the desk as it exploded, the cauldron cracking down the side and potion oozing from the seam and over the edges. “Oops.” Bruce snorted, shooting Tony a look.

“Let’s call it a night, huh?” he suggested, and Tony shrugged.

“Sure. You need your sleep, anyway,” he added knowingly. The week before the moon was when Bruce’s body would be shifting and stretching in preparation for the change. Bruce rolled his eyes, nudging Tony’s shoulder with his own as he started to clean up the mess they’d made.

“You make me sound like a five year-old,” he muttered, making Tony snicker. 

“Not quite. But hey, at least you can stop with the lame-ass excuses each month. I swear, there’s only so many times your mom can get sick,” he teased, watching Bruce blush. At least now Tony knew, Bruce wouldn’t have to make excuses; they were the only two in their dorm room, the other five Ravenclaws in their year were girls. 

The smile on Bruce’s face didn’t falter as they tidied their things away, and he pulled Tony into another hug just before they left. “Seriously, thank you. I… I always worried that if someone found out, they’d tell the whole school. I was so scared when I got you as my dormmate; I knew if anyone could figure it out, it’d be you. I shouldn’t have let myself become such good friends with you,” he said softly. Tony frowned, briefly squeezing Bruce’s hand. 

“I’m glad you did,” he replied quietly. Hogwarts would be a lonely place without Bruce as his friend. He made a silent promise to himself that Bruce would never know Tony had sat outside the willow during his transformation that one night; he didn’t need the weight on his shoulders of knowing Tony had heard him in that much pain. And maybe Healer McCoy would let Tony drop off a bacon sandwich or two in the mornings after; Bruce always missed breakfast, and Tony knew from experience that hospital wing food just wasn’t the same. He grinned to himself, mentally noting to go and speak to the healer; he could do with a second opinion on the potion research, too. Hank McCoy was one of the leading researchers in medi-magic, and Tony grinned to himself at the prospect of picking the man’s brain, something Howard had been trying and failing to do for decades. Hopefully the healer wouldn’t take the time Tony had given him blue fur for two weeks _too_ personally.


	3. Not Your Secretary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Tony gets paired with Pepper Potts on a Herbology project, he expected to do what he usually does; as little work as possible. Pepper, however, has other ideas.

Sighing to himself, Tony tried valiantly to stay awake as he listened to Professor Xavier lecture him about the amazing survival methods of magical plants. One thing he hated about Hogwarts was having to actually stick to the curriculum; most of the first year stuff he’d learned when he was six. He contented himself with his extra-curricular projects, as well as reading the work for other years in his free time — Reed Richards in fourth year could always be counted on to lend him his homework notes, even if he was an insufferable ass about it — though during class itself he was still bored. Especially in Herbology, which had never been a great passion of his to begin with. His suffering was only made worse by Bruce’s absence; it had been the full moon the night before, and his friend was still in the hospital wing. He couldn’t even sit with Jane to ease the boredom; she was happily gathered with her dormmates and a couple of Hufflepuff girls, and Tony had a thing about not approaching groups of girls larger than four. 

“Today we will be starting our first long-term project,” Xavier announced jovially, and Tony perked up slightly. He hoped it would be interesting. “Here, you have some shrivelfig pods. In pairs, you shall plant four pods, and it shall be your responsibility to keep these pods safe and cared for until they reach germination. Unlike many other magical plants, the shrivelfig is fairly delicate during its early stages, and it will be very obvious at the germination stage whether you have succeeded in caring for the plant appropriately.” Tony stifled a groan; he had better things to do than look after some stupid delicate plant! The shrivelfig wasn’t even useful in all that many potions!

“Sir, Bruce isn’t here, shall I start on my own today?” he asked, sticking his hand up. Xavier gave him a look, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“I know better than to put you and Banner together, Stark,” the man replied flatly, looking somewhat amused. “I shall be assigning pairs for this project, and since you volunteered so nicely, Mr Stark, you and Miss Potts can have the first tray of pods.” Tony’s eyebrows shot up, and he glanced over at the Hufflepuff girl with fiery red hair sitting in Jane’s little group. She looked anything but pleased at being partnered with him, but obediently walked up to take the first tray of pods from the workbench, reluctantly moving to join Tony. Xavier began assigning more pairs, but Tony ignored the commotion once he’d heard that Bruce would be working with Jane. Lucky bastard. 

“You are not going to mess my grade up on this, Stark,” Potts declared as soon as she set the tray in front of him, a determined look in her eyes. 

“Whoa, relax, Potts. It’s just a stupid plant; how hard can it be?” he reasoned. Potts placed her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

“You didn’t listen to a thing Professor Xavier said in class, did you?” she asked, and Tony didn’t hesitate to shake his head.

“Not a word,” he chirped brightly. She sighed, glaring at him.

“Just shut up and do what I tell you. And for the record, it’s Pepper,” she added, making him frown in confusion. “My name,” she clarified, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she reached for the tray. “It’s Pepper. And I swear to Merlin, if you call me Virginia, I’ll hex you black and yellow for a month.” Tony chuckled, reaching for his dragonhide gloves. 

“I like you, Pepper Potts,” he told her, and her lips curled into a slight smile.

“Yay, me,” she deadpanned, making him snort. “Just fill this pot with three parts soil, one part fertiliser and stop when you get to the mark. I hope that’s a simple enough instruction for you, Stark?” she asked sweetly, spelling a red line around the inside of the pot, about four inches from the top.

“I think I can manage it,” he assured with a wink, grabbing the bag of soil. “And it’s Tony.”

.-.

Working with Pepper turned out to be an eye opener for Tony in many ways. For one, she wasn’t afraid to forcibly drag him from the potions lab or the library in order to make him help her with the damn pods. It turned out that shrivelfigs needed to be switched pots every six hours, watered every four on the dot, and moved from sunlight to darkness every twelve hours. Tony wondered why the hell anyone bothered with them if they were so high-maintenance. Surely there was nowhere they could grow in the wild like that?

For another, Pepper Potts didn’t just stop at the practical part of their herbology project. Each pair had to write an essay describing the reasons for the high-maintenance of the shrivelfig, and chronicle any changes they noticed during the three weeks they’d be looking after them for. Tony had assumed Pepper would do the chronicle-ing, and he could just power through the essay the night before it was due; it was Herbology, it wouldn’t take long. But Pepper had other ideas; she made him do his part in tracking changes in the pods, and organised all their notes for the essay in order to split it evenly between them. Tony wondered if she’d do the same for his Transfiguration notes; they were a mess. He wished he could use muggle notebooks for note-taking, it would be far easier than endless rolls of parchment. 

Tony’s wand vibrated on the desk nearby, signalling that he needed to go and change the pods into new pots, but he ignored it; he had five minutes to spare, and he was at a crucial point in his research. It had taken near-blackmail to get his dad to send him anything mechanical — Howard insisted that magical projects were acceptable during term-time, but anything ‘muggle’ should be kept to school breaks and summer — and he didn’t want to screw it up. Tongue between his teeth as he kept a steady hand on his soldering iron, he cursed loudly as a hand landed on his shoulder, making him jolt. Hot solder dripped over the delicate wiring, and the circuit board began to smoke and fizzle. “It’s your turn, Tony, get a move on.” Tony swore under his breath, setting down the iron and looking mournfully at his ruined project.

“Goddamn it, Pepper, do you know what you just ruined?” he asked, turning to look at her. “Do you have any idea just what I had to do to even _get_ that here?” Pepper didn’t let his anger bother her, staring coolly back at him.

“Go switch the pots. Now, before the timer runs over,” she ordered. Tony glared and gathered up his things, tossing them carelessly into his satchel; they were broken now, useless. 

“If you came here specifically to tell me to do it, why couldn’t you go and do it yourself?” he asked with raised eyebrows, getting to his feet and grabbing his wand. 

“Because this is meant to be a partnered project, Tony; that means you pull your weight. But if you hurry up, I’ll help you,” she told him with that dangerously sweet smile of hers. Tony didn’t know why people thought Hufflepuffs were all sunshine and rainbows; they were _evil_. 

“Sure, what the hell. You already ruined my work anyways,” he muttered, shouldering his satchel and heading for the door. 

“What were you even doing, anyway?” Pepper queried, easily keeping pace with his quick stride. 

“I was _trying_ to build a computer circuit board that runs completely on magic. So thank you, for sending six months hard work down the drain, Pepper,” he explained curtly. She winced, looking apologetic.

“Damn it, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise,” she murmured. “But why were you doing it now if you knew you’d have to switch the pots over halfway through?”

“Because tomorrow I have four essays to do and a brewing session with Bruce, then the day after is Ravenclaw study group, and I’m spending the whole weekend on another project, then next week I have like twenty different things to do, so long story short, today was the only time I had. I’ll have to bench it until Easter, though; I need my lab at home to get back up to where I was,” he explained, speaking very fast. Pepper blinked, surprised.

“Wow. When do you sleep?” Tony snorted, offering a grin.

“Sleep, my dear Pepper, is for the weak,” he informed her. 

“Seriously, though, why are you doing so much? No one expects you to stay the Stark Industries prodigy while you have schoolwork to do. You could chill out on the extra projects,” she pointed out. Tony rolled his eyes behind her back; _everyone_ expected him to stay the Stark Industries prodigy while at Hogwarts. He was an eleven year-old with a reputation bigger than he was, and if he wanted his dad to let him into the house at the end of the year instead of shipping him off to summer school or his aunt’s, he had to keep up that reputation.

“I like to keep busy,” he replied instead, opening the greenhouse door for Pepper. Their pods were sat waiting next to the empty new pots, and Tony dug through his bag for dragonhide gloves while the redheaded girl reached for the soil and fertiliser. 

“So, uh, I guess with all those projects you’re doing, you get pretty behind on your class notes, huh?” Pepper mused, carefully measuring out soil in a large plastic jug. 

“Who says I take class notes?” he retorted wryly. “Most of the first-year stuff I know, and the stuff I don’t can be found in a book in ten minutes.”

“Oh, please. Every class I have with you, you turn up with a pile of loose parchment and an adorable lost-puppy look on your face. I’m sure if you didn’t have Banner to set you straight, you’d forget your class schedule,” she pointed out in amusement. Tony shrugged, slightly sheepish.

“My classwork won’t matter when it comes to exams,” he reasoned. Pepper carefully eased the top layers of soil off the shrivelfig, and Tony readied the new pot. 

“Yeah, but if you don’t have the class notes, you won’t know what to study to pass exams.” She weighed the pod, noted a slight colour change, then set it in its new home, covering it with a thick layer of fresh soil. “If you wanted, I could help you out,” she offered. “I’m sure your notes aren’t in too bad a state. I could organise them for you, if you like.” Tony looked up, surprised. 

“You’d do that? Why would you do that?” he asked, somewhat suspicious. Pepper shrugged, smiling.

“You always look like you could use the help. And I don’t mind, really; my dad’s in the records department of the Ministry, it’s kind-of in my blood to stay organised,” she explained. “But you’ll have to help me out at least a little; maybe next time you’ve got a weekend free?”

“Pepper, you are awesome, and I hope you’re aware I will be taking full advantage of your organisational impulses from now until we graduate,” Tony declared, completely serious. Pepper laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear after she’d settled the last pod in the pot.

“I think I can deal with that. You’re not so bad when you’re not being a jerk,” she teased, making him grin. “How does weekend after next sound to you?” He stared blankly at her, and she sighed. “I’ll pencil it in and remind you in a week.” Tony beamed, throwing his gloves in his satchel.

“That’s the spirit!” Now all they had to do was pass the damn Herbology project.


End file.
